"Hey, H, where is everyone?" Asked Eric as he approached his supervisor in the hallway.

"Well, that depends who you're looking for." He replied.

"Well, Wolfe and Ben were due back, like, three hours ago, and I can't find Natalia anywhere."

Horatio looked up sharply; he had known that Benny and Ryan couldn't be expected back that day, but there was no reason for Natalia to be missing.

"They're, um, they're still out on a case. Have you tried paging Boa Vista?"

"Yeah; no luck with her cell phone or pager. At first, I just figured she was taking a long lunch, but she should be back by now." There was a discernible edge of concern to his voice; he would no longer admit it, but he still harboured feelings for the beautiful lab technician.

"Alright, Eric, don't worry about that right now. I'll take care of it. OK?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'll, uh, just ask Valera."

"Alright." Horatio watched his young colleague walk away, and wondered, with a hint of anger, where Natalia had gotten to. He was aware that she had caught pieces of his phone call with Benny, but he didn't think she would actually do anything about it. He hastily dialed Benny's pager, knowing that she would have turned off her cell phone in the hospital. Within five minutes, his cell phone vibrated with her response.

"You paged me?" She still sounded so tired, so weary.

"Yes, Ms. Wallace, have you seen Natalia today?" Part of him wanted her to say yes, so that the mystery could be solved; part of him hoped that she hadn't really gone to the hospital to investigate Ryan's injury.

There was a confused pause on the line as Benny tried to figure out the situation. "Yeah, she's here. I think she's still up there with him. Ryan." What the hell is going on?

Horatio sighed deeply on the other end. His anger was mounting. "Alright, well could you please send her back here immediately?"

"Uh, yeah, Horatio. I'll go up right now."

"OK. Good."

What the hell is going on?

> > > > >

Benny took the elevator to the third floor, and found herself face to face with Natalia when the doors opened.

"Boa Vista. Horatio just called. He wants you back at the lab." What's with that smug grin?

Indeed, Natalia had an arrogant smile etched across her attractive face as she thanked Ben and stepped onto the elevator.

What the hell is going on?

Benny walked into Ryan's hospital room to see that he had fallen asleep, a blank and peaceful expression upon what was visible of his face. Shrugging, she decided to get some paperwork done while she waited for him to wake. She opened her briefcase and got to work.

It was several hours before she looked at her watch and realized that she hadn't eaten since the previous night—she had not been hungry when she had gotten the call early that morning, and had not had time to eat since then. Glancing at Ryan, she guessed that he would be asleep for a few more hours, at least, but just in case, scribbled a quick note and placed it on the night stand beside his bed.

Ryan,

Went to get a bite from the caf (9:45). Back in a few.

Love,

Ben

She had hesitated before signing her name, "love". Even when they had dated, they had never used the "L word", and she wondered if it would be inappropriate at this point. But she decided that it was ambiguous enough, and he could make of it whatever he wanted.

> > > > >

In the cafeteria, she put a bowl of vegetable soup, a carton of skim milk, an apple, and an energy bar onto her red plastic tray, paid at the counter, and found an empty table at which to devour her first meal in twenty-four hours.

When she wandered back into Ryan's room, she found him standing topless by the window, zipping up his dark blue jeans over a crisp, white pair of boxer briefs (he still wears those?). He looked up in alarm when he heard the door open, and made a futile attempt to cover his bare chest with his arms.

Benny blushed and quickly turned on her heel, almost walking into the closed door.

"Oh, uh, I didn't think you'd be…um, I'll come back later. Sorry." Damn, he still looks so good. She could feel her face burning red as she wrapped her trembling fingers around the cold doorknob. She was about to pull the door open when she heard Ryan laughing behind her.

"It's OK, Ben. It's not like you haven't seen it all before." He laughed at his joke. "I'm dressed now, it's OK."

She slowly turned around, her eyes on the floor. She saw his socked feet come towards her. Ever so cautiously, she raised her eyes. His dark blue denim jeans still had faint stains of vomit from the incident in her car. A white t-shirt clung to his shoulders, showing off his recently-developed musculature—the tanned arms, thick pectorals, slight bulge of a stomach where there used to be absolutely no body fat. He wouldn't usually wear a shirt like that without a dress shirt (often accompanied by a sweater vest) overtop, and it was a shame. He had developed a nice body, really grown into his build. Whereas he used to be very slight, with little muscle or fat on his thin frame, he had noticeably bulked up in past months. Damn, Wolfe, you been hittin' the gym?

And finally, her eyes moved up his face. A tiny smirk still played across his mouth, and she rested her eyes for a moment on the little freckle that graced the space between his upper lip and nose. His hair was still considerably messy, from lying in bed for so many hours, and it stuck out in every direction. And, of course, there was the elephant in the room—the large gauze bandage across his eye.

Her eyes met his, and she realized suddenly how closely they were standing. His nose was only inches from her forehead, and she could feel his light breathing on her face. Her face was upturned, and she was all-too conscious of the butterflies wreaking havoc on her insides. Is he going to kiss me? Is he still loopy from the drugs? Why is he looking at me like that? Why was Natalia so happy when she left?

It looked like the months of waiting were up, when he leaned his face towards hers, two sets of eyes preparing to close. She felt his hands on her hips, just holding her, the electricity generated between their two bodies as apparent as a strike of lightning.

But instead, he turned his face, and lowered his head, so that his mouth was beside her ear.

"I need to brush my teeth." He whispered.

The disappointment hit her like a truck. What kind of asshole does that to someone who they know has a huge crush on them, then plays it off like a joke? She stepped away from him, tearing herself from his grip, and threw open the door to the tiny cubicle of a bathroom.

"I ordered basic toiletries to the bathroom when they admitted you. Razor, soap, shampoo—toothbrush, toothpaste—I figured you'd be here awhile." She said briskly as she strode back to her chair, continuing to pack up her papers. Asshole.

Ryan just stood there a moment, frowning in confusion. And here I am, thinking I'm doing her a favour by saving her from my morning breath. He went into the bathroom and continued to brush his teeth, then, making sure Benny wasn't looking, carefully peeled the bandage off of his face, to reveal a scar considerably less formidable than he had expected.

The incision went from the corner of his eyebrow closest to his nose, down to the bottom inner corner of his eye—a mere two inches. The stitches were fresh, but not by any means as gruesome as one would expect from the agony he had suffered, only hours ago. I'm almost disappointed.

He decided not to replace the bandage, and padded softly from the bathroom, across the cold linoleum floor, behind Benny as she stood with her back to him, fiddling with some papers. What is she, ignoring me? He stood behind her, and gently ran a hand down her spine.

She sensed him behind her a brief moment before she felt his hand on her back, eliciting a strong response from every nucleus of every skin cell of her body. She turned slowly to face him, found herself practically on top of him, they were standing so closely. Neither made an effort to move.

"You took off the bandage." She whispered, and raised a hand to his face. She traced the skin around the wound, careful not to touch the actual injury, for fear of hurting him. Does he ever worry about hurting me? Her hand continued down his cheek, brushing softly over his lips, his chin, his neck, his collarbone, and she found her palm resting on his chest.

His arms were around her now, neither having really realized that they were now in a full embrace. He hung on to her, his arms around her waist and his hips pressed against her. Their noses brushed against each other as he bent his head down for a long, deep kiss.

His kiss was fresh, thanks to the tooth-brushing only moments prior. He was gentle as he held her, his hands barely gracing her skin, yet his kiss was a different story. They were both so hungry for each other, so desperate for this moment that they kissed one another with the tenacity of a final worldly action, as if this kiss was the last thing either of them would ever do.

Their breathing was shallow and sharp as they clung to each other. Her hands moved up his back, as she ran her index finger up the nape of his neck. When finally they broke apart, it was as if they were junkies after a long-awaited fix. They were high on each other, and loving every minute of it. They stood there in each other's arms, gazing into each other's eyes, as small, satisfied smiles played across their faces.

Finally, satisfaction.